Hot Chocolate
by MiniBrissy
Summary: Out getting groceries, Private and Skipper get caught in heavy downpour of rain of the winter cold. Easier to say than get done to actually get home when certain obstacles get in your way. Enjoy!


"Thanks for shopping with us, come again soon!"

"Bye-bye, Leo!"

 _Sssish.._

"Oh no.."

Upon exiting the doors of the supermarket, the people would be met with heavy rain fall, as if a wall of water itself was in front of them. Some would wait under the roof of the store until the pitter-patter of the rain on the ground would calm down, and some would simply head for their vehicle.

"It wasn't so dark earlier, right, 'kipper?" said a young voice. It was innocent, and pure as any other child.

Skipper looked down sheepishly at the tiny figure clutching his leg with a small fist. "Yeah, I didn't think it would have rained today, especially not _this_ strong," he answered, scratching the back of his head. Skipper bit his lip as he glared at the continuous rainfall before checking his phone.

"It's almost 8 o'clock. If we don't start heading home now, we'll get caught in the rain and the dark, so.."

 _Ugh.. Just my luck.._

Skipper put his phone away into his pocket, and kneeled down to pull Private's hood over his messy hair before scooping him into his arm. He began to walk, the path the pair took earlier to go from their home to the store.

Private looked around, taking in the greyed scenery. The rain was cold to the touch, adding to the frost of the winter. And whenever he breathed, he could see a small puff of a cloud appear before him. He giggled, obviously amused by the environment.

Skipper chuckled at the youngling in his arm. He always seemed to explore every aspect around him and usually found a way to find entertainment from those elements. The man found himself staring into big blue eyes, that seemed to radiate from curiosity. Of course, Private and any other 5 year old would have such a look in their eyes, but Private was definitely thinking of something more than just being simply curious.

The young boy raised his arms in front of him and tried to wrap them around Skipper's head. "You're getting wet, 'Kipper," he said as he held his older brother's head in a gently hug.

"It's okay, Private. It's just rain," he said, stopping in his tracks until his head was released.

". . ."

"Could you let go now, beb?"

"Nuh-uh! It's cold, 'Kipper!" he exclaimed, embrace never growing a weaker hold.

Skipper laughed, adoring the stubborn traits of his baby brother. He put the bags in his other hand down beside him, and gently pushed Private's arms away. Skipper held the tiny pair of hands in his own, and looked into the child's eyes. "I'm fine, Private. It's not gonna do anything to me, okay? But if you keep hugging my head I might accidentally trip and hurt us both, okay?"

Private huffed, hesitant to not protect his big brother and gave him an adorably angry face in attempt to protest.

Skipper couldn't help but laugh as he tried to warm up the hands in his grasp as they trembled from the cold. Private only glared back as he laughed, before breaking out into a fit of giggles himself.

Oh, was he adorable or what? Skipper couldn't ever take such an angry face seriously, and would usually end up being able to break up his pout just as easily as how he caused it.

Skipper ran a hand through his hair, gel becoming washed off by the rain. "Oh shoot, we gotta get a move on," he commented, looking up only to see the clouds continue to pour down on them.

He looked down to grab the bags he put on the ground, but was met with nothing but rippling puddles. He looked around, shocked that the bags were somehow able to move away from him without him knowing.

Or a thief had taken it while he was distracted. A small, fluffy thief.

A few feet away, he saw a small puppy with the bags as he scavenged through one of them. Private had seen the puppy as well, and immediately screeched "Buppy! 'Kipper! There's a buppy!"

"I know, I see it Private." He began to move towards the ball of fluff, freezing when the dog looked up from the bags and set his eyes onto the pair. Suddenly, the pup took hold of one of the bags and began to sprint away.

Skipper would have been fine with allowing the tiny thief go with the bag and continue on his way, but then Private had slipped from his grip when he knelt down to grab the remaining bags and started running after the puppy.

"Buppy! Wait!" he heard his baby brother yell. Skipper grasped the bags in his hand and tripped over from the unbalanced weights and slippery floor. "Are you kidding me!?" he exclaimed as he lifted himself off from the disgusting puddle, heart racing that Private was only getting farther away.

He got up, not bothering to try to wipe off the mud on his suit and tie and began running towards the blurry figures ahead of him. "Private, no! Get back here right now, soldier!" he yelled out.

But Private continued, turning to the left behind a building when the puppy did so. Skipper could not afford to lose sight of Private; the rain made it hard to see him clearly and he was rapidly losing light from the sky. He let go of the bags and gained speed, also turning to where the child went.

There was an alley, a dead end, dumpsters lining the sides of the back of the buildings. Private was looking behind one of the dumpsters, most likely where the puppy had gone. Skipper marched on over to where his baby brother was. Private squeaked when he felt a pair of hands lift him up by his sides, and was met with tired and worried eyes from Skipper. Also a bit angry.

He was huffing, trying to catch his breath from the adrenaline rush. He had mud on his chin, but it was dripping off from the rain drops going down his face.

Finally, he caught his breath and spoke.

"Private. Don't ever go running off by yourself ever again! I could have lost you in this rain! You could have gotten hurt! Do you think I could forgive myself if that ever happened because I couldn't save you?" he scolded, trying not to let all of his anger out on the shivering child in his arms.

Private looked him in the eyes, sad that he had made Skipper feel bad. He held his arms out and shakily said "I'm sorry, 'Kipper. . "

The older man's expression softened, sighing and watching a puff of his breath become visible in the chilly night. He hugged the boy tightly, one hand running through Private's wet hair now that his hood had come off while running. Before Private pulled away from the hug, he smooched Skipper's muddy cheek, that surely gained him the smile that he loved from his older brother.

"Let's go, it's getting late," Skipper said, ruffling Private's hair before once again pulling his hood over.

"No, I wanna help that buppy! He's cold.." Private protested. He pointed to the dumpster close to them. Private looked back up to Skipper, who gave him an unsure look. But after a few seconds, Skipper sighed, and walked to peek behind the dumpster.

There, he saw the puppy, trembling as he was curled on a tattered piece of cloth. In front of him sat the bag he stole from the brothers. In it was food items, just ones that Johnson needed for dinner tonight. But, it wouldn't necessarily do much for a puppy; it was just vegetables for the most part.

Skipper came closer, and gently took hold of the pup's tag.

"Knary Household?" Skipper read aloud. He turned over the tag, only to find the number scratched out, probably from the tag wearing out.

Private perked up, and tugged on Skipper's tux collar. "Leo?"

"Leo Knary? You mean the one from the supermarket?" Skipper asked.

"Yeah! He's told me about his dog. Choco helps Leo when he gets nervous," Private explained, recalling the stories he's heard from the man.

Skipper stared at the young boy, confused. Leo was from the supermarket, and seemed to have made friends with his brothers after falling in love with Private's cute. Why would his, what seemed like, service dog be out here?

Well, whatever the reason, if he's a service dog, Leo must need him. Skipper pulled out his phone, pushing it's button to turn it on.

However, he only saw the lockscreen, where he saw he had quite a few (more like 10+) missed calls from his brothers before the screen turned black again, and refused to turn on again.

Private watched, concerned when he saw the panic in Skipper's face.

"Are you kidding me, uuugh!" he fumed. He began to feel the pocket that he had his phone in just seconds ago, feeling that it was soaked from his fall earlier. He shoved his dysfunctional phone back into his pocket.

"We have to head home fast, I think Kowalski and Johnson are worried judging from my notifications," Skipper explained.

He took the bag that the dog had in its possession, and began to move it away from him. He felt a tug on his shirt collar.

"No, we can't leave him, 'Kipper!" he cried, continuing to tug on the stained shirt.

"We're not, we're not! Look," Skipper defended. Private turned his attention to watch Skipper's plan. The pup was following the bag, sniffing it frequently. Leo's scent must have been on it from when he scanned their items earlier!

"See? I've got this under control, right Private?" Skipper remarked, grinning when he saw Private's smile as he hugged his arm. Whether it was from the cold or to tell him he's a great brother (which he was), he didn't really care; now they can continue along to finally get somewhere warm. And to change out of these damp clothes!

9:15 pm

 _Knock Knock Knock_

The knock rang through the Tux household, but only the noise of the footsteps outside was needed to have it's members come rushing to the door. All brothers had made it to the living room, but it was Manfredi that opened the door with Johnson behind him. When they had caught sight of the trembling figures standing in the calmed sprinkle of rain, Johnson immediately shoved past his older twin and pulled them inside, unaware of the following fluffy creature. All attention was set on Skipper, who grinned sheepishly and shook, and Private who trembled and looked at everyone with wide eyes as he waved hello.

Skipper watched as Johnson aggressively locked the door, and strutted towards him. Manfredi followed, grabbing his Johnson's shoulder should he get too angry.

Skipper nervously looked at the twins, one who looked at him sternly.

"Johnson I know you're a bit upset that we're late in the cold and rain and didn't answer your calls, but look, I wasn't expecting the rain and I accidentally tripped into a puddle that just fried my phone and-"

 _"Can it, Skipper!"_ Johnson interjected, and made everyone in the room flinch. Suddenly, he embraced Skipper and Private, holding them both close to him and feeling the chilly touch of their soaked clothes and hair.

"I'm pissed that you didn't answer to tell us where you two are while a storm was going on, yeah, but you're both here now and you're both safe. Just," he paused, "just don't worry us like that ever again, alright?"

Skipper sighed in relief and grinned softly as he handed the water-filled bags to Rico and Kowalski and hugged Johnson back.

Manfredi sighed, glad that tensions were low. He checked out Skipper, after being released from Johnson's tight hug, and chuckled at seeing the mud stains covering his younger brother. He walked up to Skipper, and placed the back of his hand on his cheek.

"Cold outside huh? Go and get changed and we'll get you two something hot to eat," he said, running his hand through Skipper's frosty hair.

Skipper nodded, and as about to turn to head to their room, but was stopped by Kowalski.

"Uh, before you do that," Kowalski said, looking from the ground to his older brother, "why is this puppy here? He won't stop following the bags of, um, 'groceries'."

The others all moved to see the small dog Kowalski had mentioned. It was a corgi, still a young pup. Despite it being unbelievably cute, they couldn't accept it.

"Where did you get this puppy?" Johnson asked, kneeling to pet him and to check his tags.

Skipper put down the fidgeting child in his arms on the ground so he could play with the wet dog, and crossed his stiff arms that continued to shake.

"Well, he stole our bags while we were out. I though it was a stray at first, but the tags, according to young Private there, says that he belongs to Leo and his brothers. I think to help him whenever he becomes too nervous?" Skipper explained, thinking back to earlier.

Johnson sputtered before finding his words. "Wait-what- you mean this is a service dog? His owners probably need him! Why didn't you call Leo?"

Skipper unfolded his arms and motioned towards his practically frozen and damp pants and pulled out his broken phone slightly. "I don't know where his house is, so I couldn't do that either."

"Oh, right," Johnson replied, a bit embarrassed. He pulled out his own phone, and began to look through his contacts and selected the name "Leo Knary." As the phone began to ring, he walked to a quieter room to talk to the man without too much noise.

The night continued much more calmly now that all members of the Tux brothers were reunited. Skipper and Private were changed out of their practically frozen wear and into layers of clothes, and were given hot soup. During the night, while the brothers were figuring out ways to warm the duo up after they finished eating, a knock came from the door. Manfredi opened it, met with the owners of the puppy that slept near the warm fireplace after being washed of dirt and mud.

"Thank you so, so much for finding our dog!" Leo exclaimed, and picked up the pup. He greeted the brothers, but directed most at the founder of his pup- Skipper waved from the table as response as he departed shortly after retrieving Choco.


End file.
